The brains behind the search for models of the Avro Arrow says they are getting close to a big breakthrough.
John Burzynski is the project leader for the Raise the Arrow Project.
For several years, the projects goal has been to resurrect the models of the Avro Arrow, shot off the south shore of Prince Edward County in the 1950s.
In 2017, the first of nine models shot was brought to the surface and is now on display in Ottawa.
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The model of the Avro Arrow pulled from the bottom of Lake Ontario off the south shore of Prince Edward County (Photo: Supplied by John Burzynski)
Burzynski says since the project began, they have looked at 85 square kilometres of the Lake Ontario floor. He says in the last week they have started to look at a 15 square kilometre section, and they believe the remaining eight free flight models will be there.
In the 1950s, scientists with the Avro Arrow project show nine test models with booster rockets from Point Petre in Prince Edward County.
The sonar equipment and the crew have been slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the hope is that over the next several weeks there will be a breakthrough.
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Officials with the Raise the Arrow Project pull a 1/8th-scale free flight model of the Avro Arrow from the bottom of Lake Ontario off the south shore of Prince Edward County (Photo: Raise the Arrow)
Burzynski has said that if a second model is brought to the surface, it would go to the National Air Force Museum of Canada at CFB Trenton.
So far all of the rocket boosters (Nike Boosters) have been found.
Depending on how the models landed back into Lake Ontario, they could be fully intact, or the impact could have smashed the models.
The CF-105 Avro Arrow Project is one of the most talked about projects in Canada’s aviation history.
The boat on Lake Ontario that is leading the search for more Avro Arrow models off the south shore of Prince Edward County (Photo: Supplied by John Burzynski)
